My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Looks good! Great job!

Wow, Cory, well done!!!  I really like it.  

But at the rate you are going you'll have it on the road very soon.  However, there is no reason to rush.  The fun is in the journey, not the destination.  

I would be proud to have it in my truck looks great
I think you said you were reusing the fenders from the truck if so or not you having them painted before they bolt up?
Dave ----

Dave,

The shop that is doing the paint work for me wanted to paint them separately, so they currently have the original fenders and the steps. Everything else is here with me. I'm going to finish assembling the box at home and then take it back off the frame so that they can paint the cab.

I have to get paint for the under side of the hood and going to get enough to paint the bed.
May even get the white as I want to put the white down before the red on the rear fenders & cab.

This way I can get color on the beds side when apart like you did then put it together like you did then do the fenders and bolt them on so I can do the cab.

So close yet so far away right?
Dave ----

Cory, did you ever get the paint system and color code information from your paint shop?

Ray,

I don't have it yet, no. Sorry. I hope to have it soon as I need to get some touch up paint and I'll need the code.

Got the tailgate test fitted this morning and it fits like a glove! I'm so stoked about this! With fabricated stake pockets and having to make all new mounting points for the hinges, chains and latches, etc I was a little worried it might not line up 100%. I had to spend some time massaging the mounting faces of the hinges to get them to work right. Not only does it line up properly, it's better than it was before. Both latches are nice and even with the tail gate and they both snap into place and up against the rubber bumpers like they're supposed to, nice and tight.





You can see how they're nice and even with the top line of the tailgate below:



Now, I have to pull it all apart again and prime and paint the hinges again.

Your latches do fit nice and the first thing I saw.
Mine don't fit too good but I also don't have the little rubber bumpers on the handles or the strips in the channels of the gate that press to the end of the bed.

BTW where did you get the rubber bumpers for the handles & the channels?
Think I seen the handle ones on LMC but don't think the channel ones.
Dave ----

FuzzFace2 wrote

BTW where did you get the rubber bumpers for the handles & the channels?
Think I seen the handle ones on LMC but don't think the channel ones.
Dave ----

Bought both from LMC Dave, but the channel rubbers are not the same as the originals, so I chucked 'em in the spare parts bin. My originals channel rubber bumpers are still fine actually, but I was ordering a bunch of stuff and figured I'd order new ones. Too bad they weren't the same.

The rubber bumpers for the handles are from LMC and they worked great. I had cut the old ones off before having the chains and handles sand blasted.

Bit of hit and miss with LMC unfortunately. Most stuff seems to fit OK, but once in a while you get some dud parts.

Picked up a few more pieces of the Blue Mule puzzle today:

Some new sticky letters...



Stopped by the body shop and got to see my shiny "new" fenders...



And picked up the new set of taillights that I had ordered in through a local heavy truck parts shop.



I'll post up some info on these lights in a separate thread for the Flareside guys.

That's it. If all goes well I should have the old girl on the road next week, and then in a couple weeks hopefully get the cab painted.

WOW!  That is going to be beautiful!!  

Gary Lewis wrote

WOW!  That is going to be beautiful!!  

Gary,

It has been going OK so far. When they get to the cab I imagine I'll be getting a rude awakening...lol. It needs both front fenders, at least one door, and definitely both cab corners.

Do you have any experience in removing the windshield trim? The body shop told me to get a glass shop to do it. The glass shop told me not to touch it...lol. This was supposed to be a budget build...

The truck was painted around the windshield trim before...I guess it could be again;)>

Rembrant wrote

Gary Lewis wrote

WOW!  That is going to be beautiful!!  

Gary,

It has been going OK so far. When they get to the cab I imagine I'll be getting a rude awakening...lol. It needs both front fenders, at least one door, and definitely both cab corners.

Do you have any experience in removing the windshield trim? The body shop told me to get a glass shop to do it. The glass shop told me not to touch it...lol. This was supposed to be a budget build...

The truck was painted around the windshield trim before...I guess it could be again;)>

Are all the people in the body shop under 30 years old?
Same for the glass shop, I cant believe no one knows how to remove the trim
I am going to show my age here LOL
There is a tool made just for this https://www.eastwood.com/trim-removal-set-all-three-tools.html

The tool at thebottom with the arrow is the glass trim removal tool. You slidthe arrow between the glass & trim and hook the trim clips by pulling them away from the trim and the trim should then pull away.

The tool in the center is for removing the clips on inside door & window handles, think mostly GM cars IIRC.

The top one is used to pop the door panels off the door frames. you feel for the clips and put the fork on either side of the clip and pry. If you don't use it you can rip the panel board and the clips then fall out and the panel flops around.
Dave ----

FuzzFace2 wrote

Are all the people in the body shop under 30 years old?
Same for the glass shop, I cant believe no one knows how to remove the trim

Dave...I think it's that they don't want to touch it, not that they don't know how...lol.

I guess I better order a removal tool and go do some reading and I'll remove it myself.

I've not had any problems removing the trim with a similar tool.  I don't know why they don't want to touch it.

Rembrant wrote

FuzzFace2 wrote

Are all the people in the body shop under 30 years old?
Same for the glass shop, I cant believe no one knows how to remove the trim

Dave...I think it's that they don't want to touch it, not that they don't know how...lol.

I guess I better order a removal tool and go do some reading and I'll remove it myself.

I should ask are you pulling the trim to get a better paint job and if so you also pulling the glass?
I ask because of how it might be re-installed. I will not get into it as there was a few posts in someone's thread don't remember who's now but if you do a search I think you could find it.
Dave ----

Dave,

Wasn't planning on pulling the glass, no. I only want to pull the trim for a cleaner paint job.

Gentlemen,

I was checking around on the price and availability of body parts today...mainly front fenders and doors, and it looks like fenders are no problem...available in a couple days locally at a reasonable price. However, local supplier says no-go on the doors.

Has anybody ordered door shells from LMC before? If yes, do they come with mirror mount holes and wiring grommet holes (for speaker wires, etc)?

If not LMC, where else would one look at ordering a door shell from? I'm hoping that I only need the driver's side, but I may need both.

Edit...

Called LMC and got a quick answer. Looks like the holes are there for the small mirrors, and I assume you'd have to drill a hole down lower if you were installing the larger ones.